EC directive on Mayawati statues childish: BJP

SummaryBJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi says if invited, he will campaign in UP.

Terming as "childish" the Election Commission directive of covering up the statues of UP Chief Minister Mayawati and elephant, the BSP symbol, BJP leader and Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi today said the constitutional body should refrain from such decisions.

"The EC's decision to cover up Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's statues and the elephant models is childish and impractical," Modi, chairman of the Empowered Committee of the state finance ministers on GST, told reporters after the committee's two-day meeting here.

"With this analogy, can anyone throw a cycle, which is the poll symbol of Samajwadi Party, into a pond, during the elections?" he asked.

When asked about the NDA partners-- JD-U and BJP -- contesting UP polls separately, he said, it was a political compulsion for both these parties, which would not have any impact on their national-level coalition.

On whether he would campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the polls, Modi said, if invited, he would definitely go there.

Commenting on the allegations by the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government that the Centre is giving a step-motherly treatment to the non-Congress ruled states, he said he also holds a similar opinion.

"On one hand, the Centre sanctions a special package for Andhra Pradesh, it pays no attention to similar demands raised by Bihar," he said.